Let’s face it: not all agents are the marketing gurus they think they are. Unfortunately, some of those bad puns and awkward photos make it to their advertising materials.

Did you know that there are literally thousands of people every month in your local market that are searching for mortgage information online. At the time of this writing, just in Vancouver, British Columbia alone, there were over 2,240,000 local searches in one month for the keywords: mortgage calculator. Do you think there might be an opportunity here?

Most mortgage professionals have an instant knee-jerk reaction to this. Their hands get all sweaty, they cringe with anxiety and they feel overwhelmed. Because they think…

• They have to be some kind of Internet marketing geek to make it happen, or...
• It’s going to cost them an arm and a leg, or...
• It’s not worth the hassle or the risk. Maybe they’ve watched one of their peers (who doesn’t have a clue about marketing) try it and of course, go down in flames with nothing to show for it but a glorified brochure on the Internet and a credit card bill they can’t pay off.

This is understandable. All of these are valid concerns. Perhaps one or more of these concerns has held you back from generating leads online. Maybe you have a website right now but you’re frustrated that after all that investment of time and money, it still isn’t pulling the results you want. Well, I am here to tell you there is an easier, simpler and better way, and today I am going to show you how.

Here are the six most common (and costly) website marketing mistakes that all Superstar mortgage professionals avoid at all costs:

Mistake #1: No niche-specific content. If you’re sending paid traffic directly to your home page with a million and one options for them to choose from, I guarantee you’re losing leads – and profits! That’s why Superstar mortgage pros always send their paid traffic to customized landing pages, so the content is 100% relevant for that particular type of visitor, thereby increasing their visitor-to- lead conversion rate and ROI. Remember, think specialist, not generalist.

Mistake #2: ME, ME, ME focus. Which means stop selling yourself and how great you are, and start focusing on your prospects’ problems and their concerns and how you can solve them.

Mistake #3: NOT having a strategy to capture your prospects’ contact information. You do this by offering valuable information and advice in the form of free reports, consumer guides, 1-on-1 consultations, webinars, seminars, newsletters, etc. You need to provide something of value in exchange for their contact info. I call this a “lead magnet”. The moment they submit their information--BOOM!--you have a hot, qualified lead. The more information you can get, including the prospect’s phone number and mailing address, the better quality the lead is.

Mistake #4: Weak headlines or worse, no headlines. Studies have found that you only have about three seconds to grab your prospects’ attention before they click off your site. If you don’t let them know what’s in it for them to stay on your site, they’re gonzo! That’s why you need to use compelling, benefit-laden headlines to grab the attention of your visitor and draw them into your content.

This is a slightly amended version of an article written by Doren Aldana, leading mortgage marketing coach. It has been shortened to make it suitable for web publishing.